The Influence Of Life In Colonial America

” For many, the economic structure of slavery still held strong and it established status in British America. Slavery had begun in the later half of the 17th century and in many ways, it had made Atlantic commerce and overseas settlement possible. Thousands of Africans had been shipped overseas to work in the fields of staple crops. In the years leading up to the American Revolution, high concentrations of slaves remained in the southern colonies where they continued to labour on cotton and tobacco plantations. Of the thirteen colonies, Georgia, Virginia and the Carolinas held the highest concentrations of slaves. In 1775, it is estimated that of the 2.5 million people living in the thirteen colonies, 500,000 were blacks. The vast majority of these blacks were slaves, with many labouring for their masters under harsh conditions. Although their experiences were difficult, blacks rarely revolted or staged rebellions against their masters. This has often been associated with the plantation system, and the role it played in severing blacks’ ties to one another. As highlighted by historian Silvia Frey, “The North American plantation organization, with the dominating presence of the master, inhibited the development of the tribal cohesiveness that characterized the islands’ plantation organization and produced widespread violence against whites by black guerrilla bands.” However, despite the absence of any significant

During the 1700's, people in the American colonies lived in very distinctive societies. While some colonists led hard lives, others were healthy and prosperous. The two groups who showed these differences were the colonists of the New England and Chesapeake Bay areas. The differentiating characteristics among the Chesapeake and New England colonies developed due to economy, religion, and motives for colonial expansion. The colonists of the New England area possessed a very happy and healthy life. This high way of living was due in part to better farming, a healthier environment, and a high rate of production because of more

James Oglethorpe’s (1696-1785) initial vision of the Georgia colony was to provide a safe haven to the debtors of Britain. However, the trustees of Georgia envisioned much more out of the colony and stated that it was not only a haven for the unemployed but for the religiously persecuted of the world aside from Jews and Catholics, and the colony also promoted a slave-free environment; Georgia was to serve as a buffer zone and military fortress between the Spanish controlled Florida and British controlled South Carolina as well as bring great riches to the colonists of Georgia and the British economy through the production of luxury goods such as silk and wine (Document #1). The foundation of the Georgia colony was laid with such high hopes

At first Africans were not slaves but servants. Anthony Johnson is an example of African servant who acquired lands and servants (even white servants) after he managed to become free. Due to development of famers in America tobacco in particular settlers needed more labors, and since lands were limited and most of former indentured servants were not able to receive a land, so they were did not want to go back to work, settlers saw African as a good opportunity for cheap labors. Since Africans were not England citizen, they had no rights to claims, as a result, settlers were able to work them for their whole life. Slavery became profitable especially in Virginia, soon rules were made to make slavery legal, and took away any rights that slaves had. Based on the documentary, for a Virginia plantation it was more profitable to work a slave to death and buy a new slave than let slaves to work in a humane condition. Another reason for development of racial slavery was Englishmen projected slaves as aliens and inferior, as Blight stated “as an outsider”, in different factors such as: color, religion, and

Colonial life was very much unlike our lives today. During colonial life philosophies and what people did were very different from today. Some of which they did has had influence on our own daily lives. This meant the colonies had influence and taught us lessons on the daily life for women, daily life of children, slavery/racism and government.

In 1619, the first enslaved Africans were brought to Jamestown, Virginia. Their sole purpose was to work the fields picking and farming profitable crops such as cotton and tobacco. It is estimated that between 1700 and 1800 six to seven billion enslaved Africans were brought to the American shore (Slavery). Life as an enslaved African was more than tough, it was appalling. Slaves were prohibited from becoming literate, they were restricted in every aspect, whether it was in movement or behavior, and they were punished severely. Slave masters “took sexual liberties” with enslaved women, which was thought to be a tactic to procreate slaves (Slavery). According to that interpretation, slave masters were fueled to

Sun rising, roosters crowing the children getting up to get the work on the farm done. In the cities the sound of the carriages going by and church bells ringing. These are things that you would hear and see in the colonial cities. The farm work that the families needed to complete without leaving out a time for leisure. This is what Life in the colonies was like.

Life in colonial Williamsburg, Virginia exemplified what life was like in most of the colonies in America. Prior to the Revolution, the colonists were beginning to exert more independence from the Britain. Williamsburg was primed for revolution with its political views, its armory, its weaponry, and its interesting citizens.

Whether by land or by sea, eighteenth century colonial travel was arduous, expensive, and many times dangerous. Because of this, few people traveled very far from their homes. Transportation has changed dramatically since the late 1700’s. It was during this time that Colonial America was budding as a new country. This was before airplanes, which appeared in the very early stages of the 1900’s. Cars showed up about the same time, so rewind about 200 plus years and we’re back in colonial America. It wasn’t civilized like it is today. The dirt roads were bumpy, grimy, and when the rains came, they were mud baths. So how did people during this time get around? Often, they didn’t. Not many people could afford the cost of travel back then. Daily American Colonial Life was extremely harsh for the first settlers and colonists. They were faced with a new country, unknown territory and no friends, relatives or neighbors to help them “In those days, it was fairly expensive to travel. Because of this, generally only government officials, merchants, and planters took the risk (Constitution Facts).” Women were supposed to stay home and look after the children while the husband went off to do business. America was still a budding country, so there were not as many cities as there are now and they were more spread out. If the man wanted to travel, it would require several hours, or even several days to ride on horseback. Often the husband wouldn’t return for a couple of days, and when he

Throughout the colonies, the environment was a key factor that played a huge role in their society. The environment was a stepping stone that helped shaped the colonies and provided many opportunities for them. While the social, political, and economic factors were important to US History, the environment had an impact on the colonies because of the Grass Revolution, Jamestown, and the Columbian Exchange.

In the seventeenth century, colonial America was categorized into three major regions; New England, the Middle Colonies, and the South. Each region provided various opportunities and breakthrough ideas that created a distinct economic, cultural, and political society different from any other region. These ideas became the beginning of some prominent themes and beliefs Americans see as essential in today’s society.

Everyday life in colonial America was made up of large cities, rural settlements, and frontier regions. Life in colonial America was nothing short of difficult. The large cities were made up of many classes of people ranging from wealthy to slaves. There were some that had very specific skills as well as communication skills and others who had nothing. The wealthy people dreamed of what they were going to do in the future, however the middle class people dreamed but did not plan. They were better off than the average poor person, but still worked very hard sunrise to sunset. In this paper I will provide information on what life was like for various aspects and people groups in colonial America.

     Religion was a very important part of everyday life in colonial America. Sometimes people were not allowed to question what they were taught, and if they did so they were punished accordingly. Before 1700 some colonies had more religious freedom then others. While others colonies only allowed religious freedom to a select group, others allowed religious freedom to all different kinds of religions. In the overall there was quite a bit of religious freedom in colonial America

The Massachusetts colony, otherwise known as the ‘Massachusetts Bay colony’ was originally settled by Puritans in 1630. They were plagued by the religious persecutions of King Charles I and the Church of England. Weary from this dogged torment, they left England under the leadership of John Winthrop. These original colonists quickly established many small towns in the name of high religious ideals and strict societal rules. They also planted churches, spread Puritanism and religiously educated the masses, as these were some of their goals. A utopian society that other colonies looked upon with high regards was the ultimate goal.

The history of African-Americans has been a paradox of incredible triumph in the face of tremendous human tragedy. African-American persons were shown much discrimination and were treated as second class citizens in the colonies during the development of the nation. The first set men, women, and children to work in the colonies were indentured servants, meaning they were only required to work for a set amount of years before they received their freedom. Then, in 1619 the first black Africans came to Virginia. With no slave laws in place, they were initially treated as indentured servants, a source of free labor, and given the same opportunities for freedom dues as whites. However, slave laws were soon passed – in Massachusetts in